Effect of subcritical water and steam explosion pretreatments on the recovery of sterols, phenols and oil from olive pomace.

Hydrothermal pretreatments including steam explosion and subcritical water (SCW) facilitate hydrolyses of plant cell wall materials and supply environmentally friendly extraction solvents to recover value added compounds. In this study, effect of steam and SCW and temperature (160, 180 and 200 °C, 5 min) on yield and ß-sitosterol content of pomace oil and phenolics were compared for value added utilization of olive pomace. Compared to acid hydrolysis, hydrothermal pretreatments yielded similar oil recovery. 54-76% of the bound oil and 18-32% of the bound ß-sitosterol of the pomace were recovered by hydrothermal pretreatments. Steam pretreatment was more effective than SCW pretreatment at lower temperatures, however SCW showed increasing trend on oil yield related to steam pretreatment. As further research on process development, use of sequential temperature might be investigated, starting with steam explosion (<180 °C), followed by SCW pretreatment (>200 °C) to obtain multiple, aqueous and meal, fractions for total valorization of olive pomace.

Subcritical water extraction of phenolic and antioxidant constituents from pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) hulls.

Pistachio hulls, important by-products of pistachio processing, were extracted using an environmentally friendly process with subcritical water (SCW) at a pressure of 6.9 MPa in the range of 110 and 190 °C, and a flow rate of 4 ml/min. Detailed HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn analyses allowed the identification of 49 phenolic compounds in the SCW extracts. Total gallotannin yields up to 33 g/kg were reached at 150-170 °C, where gallic acid (22.2 g/kg) and penta-O-galloyl-ß-d-glucose (9.77 g/kg) levels were 13.2- and 10.6-fold higher than those in the aqueous methanol extracts. Flavonols were also effectively extracted at 110-150 °C (4.37-5.65 g/kg), while anacardic acid recovery was poor (1.13-2.77 g/kg). Accordingly, high amounts of anacardic acids (up to 50.7 g/kg) were retained in the extraction residue, revealing that SCW extraction allowed selective extraction of gallotannins and flavonols. Antioxidant capacities ranged from 0.68 to 1.20 mmol Trolox equivalents (TE)/g for SCW extracts increasing with temperature up 190 °C.

Effects of pressurized low polarity water extraction parameters on antioxidant properties and composition of cow cockle seed extracts.

Antioxidant activity of pressurized low polarity water (PLPW) extracts of cow cockle seed and extraction residues were determined using DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays. The effect of extraction conditions (temperature (125, 150 and 175 degrees C) and time) on the antioxidant activity and the relationship amongst the antioxidant activity and extract composition (total phenolics and saponin content) were determined. The antioxidant activity of PLPW extracts increased with extraction temperature. Increasing activity with time was also observed at 175 degrees C. PLPW extraction residues had the highest activity suggesting antioxidant compounds were not completely extracted by PLPW. Antioxidant activity correlated well with total phenolics content of samples (R2>or=0.94), however no correlation was observed with the saponin content. A strong correlation was observed between the antioxidant activity values obtained using different methods (R2>or=0.94). These results point to the potential of PLPW extraction as a method to modify the activity of biological materials for the production of customized extracts.

Saponins: properties, applications and processing.

Saponins are a diverse group of compounds widely distributed in the plant kingdom, which are characterized by their structure containing a triterpene or steroid aglycone and one or more sugar chains. Consumer demand for natural products coupled with their physicochemical (surfactant) properties and mounting evidence on their biological activity (such as anticancer and anticholesterol activity) has led to the emergence of saponins as commercially significant compounds with expanding applications in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical sectors. The realization of their full commercial potential requires development of new processes/processing strategies to address the processing challenges posed by their complex nature. This review provides an update on the sources, properties, and applications of saponins with special focus on their extraction and purification. Also reviewed is the recent literature on the effect of processing on saponin structure/properties and the extraction and purification of sapogenins.